Nine Para athletes officially meet the standard to qualify for Paris 2024 on day 3 at Bell Track and Field Trials

MONTREAL – Middle distance runner Amanda Rummery of Edmonton came very close to going to the Tokyo Paralympic Games three years ago.

For Paris 2024, she earned her standard early in the qualifying period and solidified the spot with a winning performance Friday in the women’s T46 400m at the Bell Track and Field Trials.

In all, nine Para athletes officially met the standard to qualify for Paris 2024.

That brings the total to 10, with eight of them headed to their first Paralympics.

The Para athletics team will be officially nominated by Athletics Canada and the Canadian Paralympic Committee next month.

Those who would be first timers so far are Rummery, T46 sprinter Sheriauna Haase of Toronto, Dr. Julia Hanes of Windsor, Ont., in F33 shotput, T13 sprinter Bianca Borgella of Ottawa, Katie Pegg of Toronto in the F46 shotput and wheelchair racers Anthony Bouchard of Quebec City (T52) and Cody Fournie of Toronto (T51).

Wheelchair racer Austin Smeenk of Oakville, Ont., (T34) has a lock for a third Games and middle distance runner Zach Gingras of Markham, Ont., (T38) for a second.

On Thursday, defending Games champion Nate Riech of Victoria stamped his ticket in the T38 1500m.

‘’I came here to win and book my ticket to Paris,’’ said Rummery, a 26-year-old left arm amputee who broke the Canadian record last month in the 400. She clocked 57.99 which ranks her second in the world. She went 59.08 on Friday.

‘’Not making the 2021 team was a motivating factor for me. I was so new to Para sport at the time that I knew I had the ability to close the gap over the next three years.’’

Hanes, an in-residence doctor in Vancouver, broke her Canadian record three times over six throws to win the women’s sitting shotput. She opened with a 6.88 metre throw to match the qualifying standard she had already achieved last week; she broke her Canadian record with a 7.01 in the second round and finished with a 7.04 and 7.06.

She hadn’t surpassed seven metres since 2017.

‘’After last week I felt there was a lot more left in the tank,’’ said Hanes, 29, diagnosed with hemiplegia, at age 17. ‘’Having met the standard coming in, the stress was off today and I was excited to see what I could do. ’’

Gingras, 22, took a bronze in the T38 400 at the Tokyo Games and bettered that to silver at the world championships last year in Paris with a Canadian record 50.23, which got him the Games standard.

‘’I came in a little unfit, a lot has gone on this year,’’ said Gingras, who finished in 56.09. ‘’So it’s great to run a decent time and get back to the Paralympic Games. Now I got a good two months to build up to where I was.’’

Smeenk, Bouchard and Fournie were all in the multi-class wheelchair 100m sprint.

Fourni, a former national wheelchair rugby team member, broke his Canadian record for the T51 100 clocking 20.11. Several of his former teammates were in the stands as they train at the same facility in Montreal.

‘’They are wonderful guys,’’ said Fourni about the wheelchair rugby team. ‘’I learned a lot from them and have lot of great memories. That experience really made for a smooth transition to wheelchair racing.”

Borgella and Hause were 1-2 in the women’s 100m Para sprint in 12.20 and 12.71.

Para athletes will have more opportunities to officially meet the standards to qualify for Paris on Saturday and Sunday at the Claude-Robillard Sports Complex.

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will begin with the Opening Ceremony on August 28 and continue through September 8, with coverage of the Games on CBC and CBC Sports and Radio-Canada.